Dreams and Loyalty
by Formerly BM Jr
Summary: What happens when a girl gets her chance to follow her dream, at the same time one of her friends needs her the most. Humanized AU.
1. Good News and Great News

A/N: Hi there everyone, nice to see you all here, welcome, have a cookie, want juice?

Sorry, I'm not trying to patronize you or anything; I'm just trying to make a joke…and probably failing miserably.

Anyways, back onto more fiction-related topics, this is an idea that I got from looking around on the net a bit, and something I've been devising since I wrote my last story in this section.

I know it's been done a couple times, but I wanna give a shot at doing my own version of it, just to give it that kinda spin only you can give.

Hope that you guys enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed working on it.

Disclaimer: All content belong to their respective owner.

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She was completely ecstatic; her mind was running a mile a minute as she ran down the street, her smile never wavering, and a letter tucked under her arm, already open and probably the sign of her elation.

The girl in question was wearing a pair of faded and ripped-up jeans, as well as a large Cyan pull-over hoodie, with the design of a fluffy white cloud, a rainbow colored lightning bolt shooting down from it.

Her red eyes were trained ahead of her, trying to keep focused on the goal as she hurried towards her friends place, wanting to share the good news she had received just a few minutes ago.

Continuing to run as fast as she could, the girl ended up stumbling and basically pulling a mid-air dodge to avoid an oncoming youngster, not wanting to crash into them.

Landing unceremoniously on her bottom, she groaned, feeling her sore body crying out from the bad landing, using one hand to brush the multicolored bangs out of her eyes, so she could get a good look at what child she had almost barreled into.

"Oh, hey there kiddo," She said once she put a name and face to the person.

The young girl let out a squeak as she was found, her cheeks going a light shade of red as she looked down at the older girl, nervous butterflies in her stomach starting to build up.

"O-oh, good evening miss Dash," The girl said politely, trying weakly to give the older woman a smile despite her nerves.

The older lady frowned at this response, and started to lift herself back off of her bottom, saying off-handedly as she rose, "How many times do I have to tell you kid, it's not this miss Dash thing, call me Rain."

The young girl squeaked again and gave a small nod of understanding and confirmation, "O-okay miss…Rain," She said, managing to just barely catch herself.

The woman smiled as she rested a hand on the child's head, mussing up her hair affectionately, "See, not that hard, right kiddo?"

"I-I guess it's not that hard, I'll try to do better next time," The girl said while swatting her hand away and trying to fix her disturbed hair.

"Do your best kiddo," The lady reminded, a bright smile on her face, before she folded her arms and leveled a patient glance at the younger child, "Now, what brings you out here so late, shouldn't you be home?"

The girl was still busy trying to fix her hair when she heard the question, and Rain noticed with a bit of dismay and confusion that she seemed to stiffen up when she heard it.

She eventually managed to give the older lady an answer to her question though, after a full five-minute silence between the two.

"Umm y-yeah, I was just on my way home now, me and the girls were just hanging out a bit late, don't worry about me Rain," the girl in question took note of the stutter and nervousness, filing it away to review later.

"Well okay, but don't stay out too long kiddo, we don't want your parents to get worried about you," Rain reminded, patting her on the head again before turning on her sneakers heel and starting back on her original path.

The younger girl offered a question that stopped her in her tracks, and brought back her elation, "Oh, where were you off to in such a hurry anyways Rain?" She asked innocently.

The girls smile grew even further as she turned back to face the girl, holding out the letter to her, intending for her to take it.

The girl did, with shaking hands, not sure what could exact so much happiness in the young lady, but as her eyes scanned over the letter, everything started to make sense.

"Y-you got…accepted into the Wonder bolts?" She asked, not entirely believing the letter.

Rain nodded eagerly in response, not able to voice her excitement, but completely ecstatic obviously.

The younger girl gave a small smile and handed back the letter to her, "I'm really happy for you Rain, I'm guessing that you're on your way to tell your friends now?"

"Course, I can't wait to share this with them, this is so awesome!" The girl said, actually letting out a squeal of joy at her success.

"Then by now Miss Dash, I really should be getting home, hope your friends all are as happy for you as I am," The girl said, before running off down the street, leaving just the happy lady.

The lady frowned as she remembered the younger girl's strange behavior and shifts in body language, but didn't think too long on it before she dashed off herself, back on the path to her friend's house to give them all the good news.

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Of course her friends were completely excited for her when she arrived and passed around the letter she had received. She had been dreaming about joining the Wonder Bolts for years now, always working hard, always trying to make herself better, just so she would have the slightest chance of joining them when she was older.

The Wonder Bolts were after all the premiere and top ranking athletics team in the league, and the skills needed to join them were incredibly high, so the members were generally hand-picked individuals, the best of the best, per-say.

"I'm really glad that you got picked Rain, but how do you feel about all of this?" Twilight asked, a bit curious about her friend, knowing that things were only going to get harder for her from this point.

The girl in question shuffled her feet nervously over the carpet as she tried to decide how to answer, before finally letting out an intake of air and beginning.

"First of all, I'm super-nervous now. I mean, I got asked to come try out for the top-ranking team, but I'm so scared that I'm not good enough to make the cut, yet so happy that they even consider me a pick," she tried to explain to the best of her abilities, "In all, I guess the best word would be content."

"That's a good way to put the pure elation you had when you came in, and it's an understandable thing," a blonde girl stated, sitting nearby in one of the many armchairs that decorated the sitting room of her friends large, library like house.

"I can't help but feel happy, I mean, this is it, this is my dream come true, it's what I've been working so hard over the years to achieve," She reminded them.

"We're all really happy that you've taken that first step," A rather shy-looking pink-haired girl said, sitting on one of the few couches in the room, leaned up against a much taller pinkette.

But the girl seemed to snap out of her happy daze as she returned to a neutral expression, looking at her friends with a bit of worry showing through her features.

"Something wrong Rain?" The purple-haired owner of the house asked, glancing up from a book she had been reading.

"It's just that, on my way here, I almost ran into, literally ran into I mean, Scoots, and something seemed a bit off about her mood," The blonde-banged girl explained.

"What do you mean by 'off'?" Twilight repeated the question.

"Well, she seemed really depressed about something, and it seemed like when I mentioned her parents, she got even more depressed, like it was a touchy subject with her," The otherwise black-haired girl replied.

"Y'know that is an odd thing," the blonde girl started to say, "My little sister has mentioned she seems to get down whenever family is mentioned, almost like it hurts her to think about it."

"You don't think her family harms her, do you?" The smaller of the two pinkette's asked.

"No, I don't think so Flutter, it was more like they didn't exist, or they were gone," Rain replied as she put some more thought into that outcome.

"You mean that she might be an orphan then?" Twilight asked, once again diverting her focus away from the book, closing and putting it aside after marking her page.

"Well maybe, can anyone else think of any times when she has shown any kind of reaction to the mention of parents or family?" Rain asked, looking around the room.

"Well she does always seem down whenever she sees me and Flutter together on the street," The taller of the pinkette's pointed out.

"And when I come to pick up Bloom," The blonde added in, a frown marring her features.

"Or when my cousin is here to visit and he helps me to sort through my collection," Twilight mentioned, knowing the young girl liked to come in and read from time to time.

Rain bit her lip in concentration as she added together all of the facts they had said about the girl's behavior, before coming to a conclusion.

"Guys, I think that Scoots is an orphan," She announced finally.

"Oh the poor thing," Flutter said; whimpering at the thought of her being alone all the time crossed her mind.

"Well that leads to another question, does she live at the orphanage, or has she been living on the streets all this time?" Twilight asked, turning to Rain for answers.

"I dunno, but I'm going to go and find out," The girl replied, getting up and stalking towards the door.

"And what are you going to do if she doesn't want to answer your questions Rain?" The blonde girl asked, tilting her head and waiting for a response.

"I'll think of something guys, I always do," The girl replied casually, before making her escape from the room, leaving behind four very worried girls.

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Rain ran through the streets once more, this time with a more important mission in mind, to find one of the people she cared about most, and find out more about her.

She had already checked out the local orphanage, and unfortunately, the young girl was confirmed to not have ever shown up there, which meant only one thing as she felt her stomach drop into her feet in despair.

Now she was trying to comb the streets for any signs of the young girl, hoping to find her and hopefully offer her aid, and maybe a place to stay for a while, and if not, to at least get her into the care of the orphanage.

Finally she slowed down to a jog, then a walk, before finally sliding down against the wall of a shop, trying to catch her breath as her stamina gave out on her.

"How can it be so hard to find one little girl in such a small town as this one?" The girl asked herself, panting quietly as she tried to recover quickly, wanting to get back to the search as soon as possible.

Just then she heard a gasp of shock, and thought that she saw a flash of red-brown hair from the alley beside her, and she quickly rose back to her feet and darted after it, not wanting to lose her only clue to the possible whereabouts of her young friend.

"Scoots, wait a sec, it's me, come back please, I just wanna talk!" The girl cried desperately, but didn't manage to get very far into the alley before she fell to her knees, still out of breath from her earlier pace.

She laid there for a few minutes, arms parallel to the ground, head down, taking in deep lungful of air to try and speed up the process, but it wasn't needed, the young girl hadn't gotten too far.

"Miss Dash, w-why are you looking for me, shouldn't you be off with your friends?" The young girl's voice questioned from around the corner.

"I-I realized your predicament, a-and came to find you," The girl said, coughing at overexerting herself.

Finally she caught sight of the young girl again, and everything clicked into place as she took a look at her.

When you really focused on the young girl you could easily see that she wasn't cared for by anyone. Her clothes were un-tucked and torn in some places, as well as being far too big for her small body, and her hair was a complete tangled mess.

"Scoots, c-come here, w-we need to talk," She said, and the girl was slightly hesitant, but finally stepped in front of the older girl, waiting for her to say something.

Once she caught her breath, Rain moved up into a sitting position, legs folded over each other to get comfortable, and motioned for Scoots to do the same.

She now found herself staring down at the girl that seemed to idolize her entire being, though now she wondered if it was because she saw herself in the older girl.

"Scoots, why didn't you tell anyone that you were an orphan in the first place?" was the first question to come to Rain's mind, and probably one of the most important ones she could have asked.

The girl squirmed nervously, obviously afraid to answer for fear of retribution, but Rain just gave her a small smile, letting her take her time in answering.

After taking a few more minutes, the girl finally spoke up, locking eyes with the athlete nervously, "I-I didn't want any of you to worry about me, s-so I kept it secret to protect you all," She explained.

Her heart felt like shattering already from the honest answer she received from the young girl, and she frowned as she crawled over and in a moment of unpredictability, scooped the smaller girl into her lap, holding her close.

"Scoots, kiddo, you shouldn't have kept this from us, we all really care about you, and we don't want anything bad to happen to you," She reassured the small girl, one of her hands rubbing the younger girl's back soothingly.

"I-I know you care, b-but I didn't wanna be a burden and make you think you needed to take care of me," She replied, relaxing into the older girl's impromptu embrace.

"Sweetie, you would never be a burden, to any of us, and as far as taking care of you, it's what family does," The girl explained.

Scoots looked up at the older girl in confusion, but kept silent, since Rain had already begun to speak again.

"Now, why didn't you go to the Orphanage, and how long have you been out here on your own for?" The rainbow-banged girl asked.

Once again she was hesitant to answer, but worked up the courage far fasted this time then the last, now that she knew the older girl cared.

"I-I didn't go to the orphanage because I actually didn't think about it," She admitted sheepishly, "And as for how long I've been out here, I think it's been around 3 months maybe."

The older girl gasped at her explanation, hugging her tight, "Oh my god Scoots, you really should have come to one of us soon, we would have made sure to take care of you," she once again reassured her.

The younger girl bit her lip before she cuddled up against her heroine, listening to her words of encouragement.

"Now Scoots, I have a very, very important question to ask you, one that I hope you will think through carefully before you offer me an answer," The girl stated, trying to emphasize the importance of the upcoming question.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, just building up for the question, before finally Dash just came out with it.

"Scoots, sweetie, I was wondering if you might wanna come and live with me, since you don't have anywhere else to go, otherwise, I'll help you get set up at the orphanage, or try to see if one of the other girls will take you in," She explained, careful to articulate to make sure she understood her choices.

The girl just sat there for a while, looking up at her as if she was crazy.

Once she came back to her sense, she launched forward, wrapping her arms around the older girl, giving her a bone-crushing hug.

Rain didn't mind the hug, in fact, she really loved it, and it made her feel good to be offering help to someone who really needed her.

"I would love to life with you Rain, if you really want me to stay with you, it's like a dream come true for me," the girl said, and Rain could see tears falling from her eyes as she spoke.

Rain lifted up a hand and patted her head once more, reassuring her further, "I would love to have you in my home kiddo, I really care about you a lot, and I don't want to see you wasting away anymore on the street.

The older girl pulled her new charge in for another hug, resting her head on top of the younger girl's.

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And that's part 1 of this new story, part 2 and 3 should be out hopefully within 24 hours of each other, I'm working on them pretty much right after each other, it only matters when I eventually upload them.

I know, I know, no sign of Rarity so far, and well, here's the thing, I don't like rarity much.

I think that she's a bit stuck up, and I just don't see her as good character material, more of a foe if anything, and if you've seen any of my other stories, you would know what I do to selfish and stuck-up people (please refer to Kairi).

Of course, if there's anything you'd like to comment about, feel free to leave a review if you have the time, no rush or pressure, I enjoy those reviews, but really, I don't care all that much about how many I get.

Part 2 should be up soon, perhaps sometime tonight, if not tomorrow, and then part 3 should be out not long after, making up the whole story.

I debated making it just one-chapter, but I think that it flows better as three parts.

Anyways, see you all next time.

Bye for now everyone.


	2. A Difficult Choice

A/N: welcome to part 2 everyone, I hope that you all enjoy.

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A few days had passed since Rain had asked Scoots to move in with her, and the other girls were wholly supportive of their choice, helping them to get her ready to have another person in the house, and all of them chipping in for some clothes for the orphan girl.

Rain had also been quite busy trying to get the adoption papers through, though it didn't take nearly as long as she thought it would, and finally, after a few harrowing moments when she thought that they were going to reject her, she finally got accepted, and Scoots was now legally her child, or younger sister, if you asked the girl about the topic.

The young girl yawned as she slowly rose to another day; her official third as Sarah "Scoots" Dasher, and a huge smile appeared quickly as she remembered first being taken home with the older girl.

Jumping out of bed, the girl was quick to get dressed before hurrying downstairs, wanting to greet her mom the same way that she had the last two days, nearly tripping on the stairs in her haste.

"Careful on the stairs Scoots, I don't want to have to take you to the hospital after only three days of being my legal sister," came a good-natured call from the kitchen, and the young girl giggled, understanding her mom's worry.

Sliding on the kitchen tiles with her socks, the girl quickly spotted her mother and wrapped her arms around her waist in a hug, smiling big as the thought kept playing in her head, that she had a family again.

"Hey kiddo, good morning to you too, now c'mon, go get the juice outta the fridge and lets eat," The older girl said, reaching up to brush her multi-colored bangs out of her eyes again before scooping the eggs in the pan onto a pair of plates, and doing the same with the bacon.

The younger girl nodded and ran over to the fridge, once again sliding, and pulled out the orange juice, grabbing two glasses from the cupboard and bringing all three to the table.

Both were quickly seated, and smiled across the table to one another before digging in, Rain's smile wide as she watched her daughter, though she wouldn't call her that around her friends, tuck into a real meal.

She of course, really appreciated all of the help her friends had offered in her endeavor to adopt the child, buying clothes and helping her make up the guest room in her house to accommodate a permanent resident, and for that she was incredibly grateful.

But she still didn't want them to see her as a mother instead of an older sister to the girl, it just wouldn't be good for her reputation, and if there was anything you had to know about Rain, her reputation was the second most important thing to her, now falling short behind her love for her new daughter.

"Is it any good kiddo?" The girl asked, a bit curious if she had even tasted what she had already eaten, having seen the girl's ravenous hunger several days before and grown used to it.

"It's the best mom, you are a surprisingly awesome cook," The girl complimented, continuing to eat.

"Well shouldn't be anything surprising about it kiddo, I'm awesome at anything I try to do, and you would do well to remember that," She boasted, making her daughter roll her eyes and giggle.

Both laughed at her jokes as they continued to eat, just enjoying the peace of each other's presence, while something on the horizon came closer to attempt at breaking the two apart.

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Unfortunately for Rain, Scoots still had school to attend, so instead of being able to spend time with her, she was with her friends, just chatting about whatever came to mind, to pass the time until she had to go pick up the girl again.

But eventually the topic turned back to an old matter that had not been touched on in the last few days, something that Rain had completely forgotten about.

"So Rain, what are your plans when the Wonder Bolt tryouts begin?" Twilight asked, looking over her book at the shorter girl, currently lounging in one of the other armchairs.

The girl's eyes shot open at the question, having just remembered her invitation to the tryouts, and quickly began to think about what she could do, now that she had Scoots to look after.

"I-I dunno, I mean, I can't just leave Scoots home alone, we just got her moved in and settled," The girl admitted, never really worrying about it until now, since the thought had slipped her mind completely.

"You know that any of us would be happy to watch her while you were gone, I'm sure Bloom would love to have her over for a few days while you made the trip to North York," The blonde-haired girl offered, smiling at her friend.

"Yeah but, I really don't want to leave her by herself, It feels kind of selfish of me to adopt her, then leave her in a few days," The girl explained.

"I'm sure she would understand where you are coming from if you explained it to her, we all know how much being a Wonder Bolt means to you Rain," Twilight stated.

"Yeah, she seems like a really understanding girl, and besides she loves you a lot, so I'm sure she wouldn't care that much to be left alone for that long," The taller of the pink-haired girl's chimed in.

"But that's the thing Mina, what if I do end up acing the tryouts and do end up becoming a Wonder Bolt?" The rainbow-banged girl asked, "I mean, if I do make it, then it'll be non-stop practices and training for events, all year round, almost no time to spend with Scoots."

Twilight frowned, understanding her friend's plight now; she really was between a rock and a hard place.

On one hand, becoming a Wonder Bolt had been her life's dream for years, on the other hand they had all seen how much she loved and cared for Scoots, and if she did join the Wonder Bolts, she would end up shunning her new daughter.

"I don't want to let Scoots down, but I also don't want to risk losing this chance of a lifetime when I may never get it again," The girl said, groaning and slumping into the chair, "I am so conflicted."

"Well, I think we all know what the right choice to make is Rain, but I'm sure it's a much harder decision to make than it seems," The smaller of the two pinkette's said.

Rain sighed in response and climbed to her feet, "It's a choice between my Dreams and my Loyalty, and I don't know which one I wanna follow more."

"Perhaps you should sleep on this matter for a while, when did you say the tryouts were again?" Twilight asked.

"I'm supposed to be at the Wonder Bolt stadium in North York in two weeks for the tryouts," The girl replied sullenly.

"Well then, you have a week to make a decision, and who is to say that you will even make the cut anyways, for all we know you may not make it," Twilight replied realistically, but the way it came out made it sound like she doubted the girl.

"Hey, who says I won't make it, you guys have seen how long and hard I've been training for this kind of chance, don't doubt me now, I thought you guys were supposed to support me like I've always supported you!" The girl shouted, before storming out of the room.

"W-wait Rain, I didn't mean it like that, I'm sorry!" Twilight tried to recover, but by the time she had said sorry the door had already been slammed shut and the ebony-haired girl was already long gone.

Sighing as she laid back in her chair, she let out a groan and brought a hand to her face, "I just potentially ruined my friendship with her, didn't I?" The girl asked.

"Well, you really shouldn't have said it in that specific way," Flutter replied, smiling weakly.

"Don't worry about it so much, I'm sure she'll cool down in a while, and you two will be talking once more by tomorrow," The blonde girl added in, trying to remain confident.

"Thank you Jackie, but I'm a bit skeptical of your confidence I'm afraid," The girl replied sullenly.

"Don't worry so much miss downer, I'm sure that Rainie will perk up soon, she's not one to hold grudges, usually," Mina stated.

And so the four friends got off into another topic, hoping that their friend would cool down and make the correct decision in the end.

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Rain huffed as she ran all the way to the school, wanting to let off some of her anger and get there before the bell rang, wanting to meet Scoots there so they could walk home together, and maybe to talk about her being invited to the tryouts, wanting to hear the youngsters opinion.

She smiled as she came to a stop outside the school, panting but in a slightly better mood from her run, always finding running or exercising to be a good way of letting off steam.

As she looked around the outside of the school, she spotted a familiar man with striking red hair standing by the gate, chewing on a piece of grain, a cowboy hat atop his head, looking bored with the world.

Approaching the tall man, she gave him a smile, "Hey there big Mac, I'm guessing you're waiting for Bloom?"

"Eeeeyup," He replied, sounding completely bored, or at least uninterested.

The girl was undeterred by his bored tone though, "How goes the farm work, getting everything done okay with just you and your sister?"

"Eeeeyup," He said again, before turning to the shorter girl and giving her a small smile.

She returned the gesture, guessing that Jackie had mentioned her adopting Scoots to him and Bloom, or that the younger girl had mentioned it herself.

"Mighty nice of you to extend such an offer to Scoots like that Rain," He said, actually breaking the monotony of his speech for once.

"Yeah, I felt really bad, and I want to be able to be there to support and care for her," The older girl explained.

"You two love each other a whole lot, hope you don't take that for granted," He responded.

"Of course I won't Mac, I love her like my own kid, like I'm supposed to," the older girl defended herself, but hoping that she wouldn't have to eat those words later.

Finally the bell rang, breaking up their conversation as all the kids came running out of the school, but neither teen saw anything of their charges.

Finally Mac caught sight of a familiar bow and let a smirk cross his face, as he knew his little sister was coming, probably followed by.

"Mom!" a flying missile suddenly latched onto Rain's waist, and she laughed as she patted the head of her new daughter, both grinning as they shared a tender moment.

Big Mac grinned as he watched the exchange, knowing the feeling Rain was going through as his own little missile connected with his waist, it being about as far as she could reach.

"Hey Big Mac, you weren't waiting long for us, were ya?" Bloom asked, smiling up at her ridiculously tall older brother.

"Nope," He replied easily, patting his little sister on the head.

"So mom, what did you do today?" Scoots asker her mother, looking up at her, making her frown as she remembered why she had shown up so early.

"Let's talk about this on the way home kiddo," Rain replied, patting her on the head and gesturing for her to follow, while waving back over her shoulder to Big Mac and Bloom.

"Later you two," She called, while her daughter/sister gave both a much more eager wave goodbye.

Finally the two were walking alone through the streets, Rain biting her lip nervously as she tried to think about which was the best way to go about this conversation.

Luckily for her, Scoots brought the topic up so she wouldn't have to, "So mom, I remember the other day that you were all excited because you got invited to join the Wonder Bolts, when are the tryouts supposed to start?" she asked innocently.

Rain smiled down at her daughter's thoughtfulness, and quickly thought of her answer before she replied, "It's supposed to be in two weeks, but, I'm not so sure if I should go or not," She replied.

Scoots looked up at her mother in shock and dismay at her reply, unbelieving that her mother would ever turn down an offer to join the Wonder Bolts.

"Are you crazy mom, you've been dreaming about joining the Wonder Bolts for years, you aren't really going to risk turning down such an important offer, are you?" The girl asked incredulously.

"That's just the thing kiddo, I'm not sure what I'm going to do," The older girl replied calmly, "I mean, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but what about you, I can't just leave you at home, or with one of the others while I go chasing after my dreams."

"Who says that you can't chase your dreams mom?" The girl asked angrily, "you've been following this desire for years, and I don't wanna stand in the way of your progress."

"You aren't sweetie, it's just that, if I do even make the cut, then It'll be all about practicing for shows, and running around the world, no time to spend with just the two of us anymore," Rain explained, hoping not to hurt her daughter's feelings.

"Mom, I think your dream is more important than spending time with me, I mean, we have the rest of our lives to spend time together, why shouldn't you be allowed to follow your dreams to completion, it wouldn't be fair to you if I held you back," The girl explained, showing maturity beyond her years.

"That's," Rain stopped dead in her tracks, and she could feel tears beginning to build up at her daughter's claims, before she quickly hurried over and embraced the small girl.

Scoots was surprised by the sudden hug, but understood how her mother felt, or at least she thought that she did.

And though it hurt a bit to give the okay for her mom to abandon her in a way, she knew that it was the right thing to do, since she was aware just how much this actually meant to the woman.

The two just stood there in the street for a few minutes in this quiet, love filled embrace, even as their hearts were breaking over such a difficult choice.

Finally Rain pulled away and grabbed her daughter's hand, "C'mon, lets get home and I can get started on something to eat for both of us."

Scoots smiled up at her mother in appreciation, "Sounds awesome mom."

And even though her daughter had given her the okay to go, she was still stuck with a whirlwind of emotions and confused by which choice was right.

Dreams or Loyalty?

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Second part of three, and I hope that this one was just as good as the last one was, or maybe even better.

Part three should be released soon, probably tomorrow, so keep an eye out for that, as it will be the final part, and the closing of this short story.

Everything I need to say about this idea I'll compress into the ending of the third part, which will be longer than the first two parts, just because there is a lot of ground to cover in it, so don't worry about the last part being too short or anything.

Like I said before, feel free to leave a review if there is anything you would like to ask or Critique about my story, or if you just wanna say hi, don't mind it much, and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can manage it, which shouldn't be more than 24 hours after your review is posted.

Well, until part three comes out, this is bye for now everyone; see you all in the conclusion of Dreams or Loyalty…


	3. Choices Made

A/N: The final part of this short story has arrived; hope you guys have enjoyed this story, full summary at the end of the chapter.

Please read the author's note at the end of the chapter, it should answer most of your questions.

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The day had finally come for Rain to leave, to go and try her luck at becoming a Wonder Bolt.

It should have been an incredibly happy day for the black-haired girl, but all she felt was remorse, sickness, and shame.

Everyone stood in front of the train, here to wish a goodbye and good luck to their friend as she went to chase her Dreams.

By now most of her friends had already said their words to her, all that was left was her new daughter for the past two and a half weeks, before she got onto that train and went to meet her fate.

Scoots stepped forward slowly, hesitantly, still fighting with her selfish side that wanted her to hold onto her mom and not let her go, to keep her here with her.

But, her more mature side reminded her just how wrong it would be to hold her mother back, so instead of begging her to stay, she wrapped her arms around her waist in a gentle goodbye hug.

Rain smiled down at her girl, feeling her heart fracture even more as she tried to say goodbye to the girl that had won her way so far into her heart.

"Aww, don't worry so much sweetie, I'll be back before you know it, showing off that Wonder Bolt uniform with pride, and then we can all have a nice big celebration," The woman said, trying hard not to break down at that train of thought.

"I know mom, I hope that you do the very best, and remember that we'll always think that you're a winner, even if you don't succeed," The girl tried to remind her mother, while holding back tears.

"Oh I will sweetie, don't worry about that, and I trust that you will be good while you stay on the farm with Jackie and the family, try to stay out of trouble until I get back, okay?" She asked, kneeling down to come face-to-face with her daughter.

She gave a tearful nod to her mother, before reaching up to wipe the tears from her eyes, while Rain ruffled her hair affectionately.

"Don't you worry about that thing Rain, I'll make sure to take good care of her while you're gone," Jackie assured her, giving her friend a bright smile which she tried to return.

"Thanks Jackie," The ebony-haired girl replied, before they all heard the whistle go off, and she quickly turned, trying to hide the tears that wanted to fall now.

Keeping her voice as steady as she could, she barely managed to mutter out a, "Bye everyone," before stepping onto the train, just as it began to pull away from the station.

Everyone began to wave as they watched the train depart, all hoping for Rain's safety and success.

Once the train had finally disappeared into the horizon, everyone began to go their separate ways, Mina mumbling something about preparing a party for her friend's return.

All that were left were the apple family and young Scoots, who was biting her lip and trying not to cry.

"Jackie?" The girl asked in a small voice.

"Yes sweetie?" The girl replied, looking down at her temporary charge curiously.

"A-am I a bad person for not wanting mom to go?" She asked, turning to show the older girl her tear-stained face.

"Oh sweetie," The girl quickly pulled her into a hug, trying to soothe her worries, "No, it makes you human, and if you did show no care in your mother going away, then I'm sure there was something wrong with you."

"T-thanks," The young girl whimpered out, before climbing out of the girl's arms, and letting Bloom lead her back towards the farm where she was to stay, in a sort of extended sleepover.

Biting her lip as she looked back over her shoulder at the tracks her friend was following, all Jackie could hope was that everything turned out okay, in whatever way it was supposed to be resolved.

XXXXXXXXXX

Rain watched the scenery pass in stoic silence, biting her lip and trying to hold back the dam of tears that wanted to swell up and burst forth, while she tried not to think about the fact this could be the breaking point of her unstable new life with her daughter.

Finally she turned away from the window, no longer able to hold back the tears, wrapping her arms around her body as she tried to comfort herself, her heart continuing to fracture as it called out for the young girl that had made such an impact in her life in such a short time.

Eventually she ran dry of tears, and just whimpered, trying to give a pep talk in her head, since she knew her voice would fail her.

'C-come on Rain, y-you need to be strong, t-the Wonder B-Bolts aren't looking for any c-crybabies to join them, o-only the best o-of the best,' She thought.

Though, the thought did cross her mind every few minutes about whether she was one of the best, when it felt so wrong to even be on this train, instead of at home with her daughter, laughing and playing and just being silly.

"D-did I make the right c-choice?" She asked herself, trying to decide whether she should even be on this train.

Quickly she shook her head, trying to shoo away those poisonous thoughts, not wanting to doubt her original choice.

'I-it's for the best, even Scoots is okay w-with this,' She tried to remind herself.

But the memory of the girl's disheartened and broken form just would not get out of her head, leading her further into despair.

XXXXXXXXXX

The first few hours staying at the Apples farmhouse were utter grief for the young Dasher, all she could do was mope, though she was trying to put on a strong façade in front of her friend and family.

"Are you sure that you're okay Scoots, you seem really down," Bloom asked once again as they walked through the apple orchards slowly, no cheer of eagerness in either young girls steps.

"I-I don't know what I am anymore Bloom, I feel so bad f-for feeling like this, but I miss her so much, and I'm so scared about her making the cut, and I'm scared about her failing," The girl stated, tears starting to form once more.

Bloom was quick to pull her friend into a hug, trying her best to comfort her, knowing that she was feeling horrible for her conflicting feelings.

"It's okay Scoots, I'm sure your mom will love you all the same, even if she does become a Wonder Bolt," Bloom tried as a way of reassuring her.

"I-I know that Bloom, it's just, I only got her two weeks ago, I don't want to have to say goodbye to her again so soon, b-but I don't want to seem selfish to her," The young girl wailed, nuzzling her head into her friends embrace and crying out her woes.

"It's okay Scoots, you're tough and smart, you'll know what to do, heck, you probably already know what to do," her friend stated, giving her a bit of hope and a small smile.

"See, your smiling, I bet you just got a great idea," Bloom encouraged.

"Yeah, I should enjoy this time with my friend, and stop worrying about silly things," Scoots replied before tagging the bow-wearing girl, "Tag, you're it!"

Bloom let out an indignant huff before chasing after her laughing friend, knowing that she was hiding her grief, but glad to see that she was at least trying to be happy and pull through this.

But was it going to be enough to get the family through this moment.

XXXXXXXXXX

Rain finally stepped off the train after a few hours and a good cry, feeling a bit better, but still horrified of the idea of leaving behind her daughter for a life of fame.

Her legs were slightly wobbly from the rickety ride, but she managed to make it out of the much busier station, and into the bustling streets of North York, sighing as she noticed how crowded it felt to her.

She tried to focus on getting to the stadium and getting this over with, but every so often her eyes would drift away to other people, some catching her eye more than others did.

She saw a mother and daughter wandering the street together, both looking incredibly happy and close, as the mother led her child inside of a building.

Her eyes drifted away to the sight of a tomboy being given a piggyback ride by her older sister, the two laughing as they ran and swerved between the crowds, ignoring everything but each other's joy.

Finally she took notice of a mother with her daughter up on her shoulders, holding her up so she could see over the crowds, and watching as the young girl pointed out interesting things she saw.

The girl eventually pointed at her, and she guessed it was because of her bangs; they always did get attention, though not for good reason, the color was more than a bit unusual.

Bowing her head down, she continued through the crowds towards the stadium, her stomach doing flips as she tried to psyche herself up for this, trying not to think about all the bad things that could happen.

XXXXXXXXXX

It had already been a day since her mother had left, and Scoots felt like the depression would never let up.

Slowly rising from the bed she had been given, the girl looked over to see Bloom still fast asleep, nothing really new there, she was aware that the girl was a heavy and late sleeper.

Deciding now was as good a time as any to get up, she went to her overnight bag and pulled out a change of clothes, before excusing herself into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

As she did though, her mind wandered off to her mother, and what she might be doing. She knew that the tryouts would take a few days, so she would be here for a while, whether or not her mother made it through the preliminaries though, that was the big question.

Finally finished with brushing out her hair and styling it, the young girl crept out of the bathroom, not surprised to still see her friend fast asleep, and snuck out of the room, careful on the stairs in order to not end up accidentally awakening Granny smith, a nickname they all affectionately used to refer to the oldest resident of the house.

Coming into the kitchen, the young girl tried to put on a happy smile, as inside she was still a mess, seeing Jackie at the stove, busy cooking something up.

"Oh, morning there kiddo, I didn't expect to see anyone up yet, so I'm afraid I don't have anything prepared for you," The girl apologized, giving her a sheepish smile.

She waved her hand dismissively though, understanding where the other girl was coming from though, "No, it's okay, I'm fine with just cereal Jackie, if that's no trouble."

"Why of course it wouldn't be darling, help yourself, I think you remember where everything is from your last visit here, right?" The older girl asked, receiving a nod of confirmation.

The girl quickly collected a box of cereal, the carton of milk, and a bowl, and returned to her seat, trying to focus on it and not on her despair of missing her mother and her dread of what might happen.

Though suddenly there was a knock at the door, confusing both occupants of the kitchen, though more so Jackie than the young girl, who was still lost in thought.

"Now who could that be at this time of the morning?" Jackie asked herself as she got up to get the door.

Though, what she was least expecting to be standing on the other side of the door was one of her best friends, out of breath and completely exhausted, but she had a small smile on her face.

"Rain, w-what are you doing here, aren't you supposed to be in North York right now?" The girl asked completely flabbergasted.

The girl didn't pay her any mind though, she rushed past Jackie into the house, and upon seeing her daughter she scooped her up into a hug, spinning around with her and laughing.

"Mom, you're back early!" The young girl cheered, loving having her mother back, though there was a nagging voice in the back of her mind asking why she was back and what had happened.

"Yeah, and I promise that I will never put anything else before you again sweetie, I'm so sorry, I made a horrible choice," The girl apologized, hugging her daughter close.

"Well isn't this sweet," both turned, just now remembering that Jackie was still in the room with them.

"Now I know this is supposed to be heartfelt moment between mother and daughter," Jackie started, receiving the exact, 'sisters!' comment from Rain she was expecting, before continuing, "But if you two are going to get all mush, why don't you head on home first."

"Actually, that's a good idea mom," Scoots said, squirming out of her mother's arms and hurrying upstairs, shouting back, "I'll just grab my things and we can get going, kay? I'll only be about a minute!"

Rain laughed as she called back to her in confirmation, before turning on her long time friend, seeing the familiar smirk on her face.

"What?" The girl asked, not sure why she was giving her that look.

"So, why are you back so early anyways, something happen, get cut from the start, mistake on the senders list?" The girl asked, grin widening as she teased her friend.

Rain was about to reply angrily, before she smirked herself and leaned back, arms folded over her chest, "Well, won't you just have to wait and find out," The girl teased.

"Hey, that is so not fair, I've been your friend for years, why can't I know now?" The girl asked, slightly hurt by her refusal.

"Cause I think Scoots deserves to know first, being the daughter and all, I think that it's the right thing to do, especially after all the wrong things that I've done recently," Rain replied easily.

Jackie pouted and tried to think up an argument for that statement, but could not come up with anything, so she just continued to pout, turning away from her friend.

Luckily they were spared an awkward moment by Scoots triumphant return, and Rain was quick to scoop her back up.

Turning to her friend, Rain put on her most sincere smile, "Thank you so much for taking care of her for me Jackie, I do really appreciate your help, even when I don't show it."

"Of course Rain, we're friends, it's what we do for each other, stick out our necks, and sometimes get burned for it," The girl said, grinning, "Now get outta here you two, before I start asking for answers again."

"Here, here," Rain and Scoots said, before Rain bolted from the house to avoid her friend's temper.

XXXXXXXXXX

On the way home, Rain continued to carry her daughter, as she looked up at her inquisitively.

"Are you sure you won't tell me yet?" The girl whined, receiving a pout from her mother.

"You can wait till we get home, but the basic principle is, I missed you, I realized how wrong I had been, and I feel horrible for nearly abandoning you," The woman summarized neatly.

Finally they stepped into the house, and Scoots was quick to jump out of her mother's arms, running into the living room to wait for her, eager to hear the full story.

The girl chuckled at her eagerness and followed at a more leisurely pace, just to torment her daughter a bit.

By the time she stepped into the living room her daughter was nearly bouncing as she pouted, wanting her mother to move faster.

"C'mon mom, hurry up, I wanna know what happened, please go faster," The girl begged.

"Why Scoots, heck, maybe I should go even slower," She suggested with a smirk, laughing as her daughter groaned in response.

"Okay, okay, just let me sit down and I'll tell you everything," The girl reasoned, picking out a seat and turning to face her daughter.

"Okay dear, here is what basically happened.

XXXXXXXXXX

Her stomach felt like it was full of rampaging butterflies as she stepped into the stadium, wearing one of the uniforms that she had always dreamed of owning one day, seeing the rest of her potential teammates busy stretching out and getting ready for the challenges ahead.

Gulping audibly, the girl did her own warm ups, looking around for any sign of her heroes, her heart going a mile a minute as she continued to even stand there.

Finally three people entered the stadium, and several of the gathered would-be Wonder Bolts began to fawn over them, all eyes on the three.

Finally they stopped in front of the group of people, and all of them quickly came to stand at attention, knowing that this was a no-nonsense group and that any horsing around was liable to get them kicked out or disqualified.

"All right, all of you are here because you are supposedly the best of the best," The taller of the two woman said, her fiery red hair sticking straight up, "We are here to determine if you have what it takes to be part of this team, and which of you are wasting our time."

Rain bit her lip, her queasiness getting even worse at the harsh words of the older woman.

"As you all should know, especially if you are here, I am "Soarin", miss rough-and-tough is our little "Spitfire", and the third is "Fleet Foot," The only male of the group announced, and the gathered contestants hung off of his every word, as she started to realize something.

'I-I shouldn't be here, I should be back home with Scoots, this is wrong, and my body is trying to tell me that,' She thought, and stepped out of line, beginning to head back for the entrance.

One of the Wonder Bolts immediately spoke up about her breaking from the line, "Rain Dasher, where do you think you are going?" Spitfire asked, and she could hear the anger in her voice.

"I don't belong here, and I realize that now, I'm not supposed to be here and I was just trying to fool myself into it," The girl replied honestly.

"But Miss Dasher, you were the highest recommended person on the list of would-be Wonder Bolts, and we all know that it is your dream to join the team," The third team member, Fleet Foot recited.

"Yeah, that is really true," Rain said, turning to face them, "But I know something that is more important than joining this team."

"And what, pray tell, might that be?" Spitfire asked.

"Going home and being with my daughter, instead of chasing silly dreams," The girl answered truthfully, "I know that this is probably a once-in-a-lifetime offer, but I'd rather choose my daughter than joining this team any day, and I think that deep down, you all know this as much as I do," She replied, before turning on her heels and leaving the stadium, leaving behind three very surprised but impressed athletes, and a group of snickering would-be Wonder Bolts who couldn't believe she would just give up because of family.

Putting away the uniform they had all found, she sighed as she prepared to leave, shouldering the bag she had brought along.

But she was stopped by a voice behind her, a very casual voice, not something she was used to from the speaker, "you know, I'm really envious of you."

Turning quickly, she found Spitfire standing there in the doorway, relaxing against the wall and seemingly entranced by her nails, not paying any attention to the dropout girl.

"What do you mean?" The girl asked, slightly confused why a star athlete would ever be envious of such a plain girl like her.

"I mean, you have it all, the drive to achieve your goals, the heart to make it through any challenges, and a loyalty that nothing can seem to break," The woman summarized, counting off points on her fingers.

"I still don't see why that would make you envious of me Miss Spitfire," The girl replied, still sort of confused by her reasoning.

"Please, it's Angel when I'm out of uniform, Angel Solace," The girl said as an introduction.

"Nice to meet you then, but that still doesn't answer my question," The girl replied, folding her arms over her chest and waiting for some kind of response.

"I've been part of this team since I was about your age," She began, and Rain nodded in understanding, already knowing this fact, really, everyone knew about this.

"But, since I have been part of this team for so long, I haven't really had the chance to get to enjoy life like you are," The woman continued, "I mean, where you have a daughter, I have practice, where you have friends I have teammates."

"I think I understand where you're going with this now Angel," The girl said, nodding.

"Just listen to me Rain," The woman said, moving in and placing a hand on her shoulder, "Please, promise me that you will never take anything you have for granted."

The girl looked up at the slightly taller woman, before giving a small nod, "I-I'll do my best to honor your wish Angel."

The woman smiled down at her before turning back to the doorway, "That's all I hope for. Have a good life Rain, enjoy it to the fullest the way that I couldn't."

Rain smiled at the kind words from one of her heroes, but was surprised when she popped her head back into the room.

"Oh, and trust me, we will keep waiting for as long as it takes, you deserve to be on this team way more than any of those other people out on that field right now, and we will always have a space open for you," The woman reassured her before disappearing again, Rain being able to hear her retreating footsteps echo down the hall.

XXXXXXXXXX

Scoots was completely mystified by her mother's story, "Wow mom, I can't believe you got to have a heart-to-heart with your hero like that," The girl announced, a huge smile on her face.

"Yeah, I can't really either, it was just so surreal," The woman replied, leaning back with a content smile.

The two sat in a comfortable silence for a while, before Rain finally spoke up.

"So sweetie, feel like whipping up a batch of chocolate chip pancakes with me to get started on the rest of your life stuck with me?" The woman joked, but seeing her daughter's eyes light up at the mention of pancakes just made her burst out into laughter.

After a few minutes Scoots joined her in the laughing fit, and soon the whole house was filled with the laughter of the two girls, and the beginning of the rest of their lives.

The end…for now?

XXXXXXXXXX

And that's it everyone, my short story, and hopefully something good that I've come up with.

First of all in terms of notes, I'll go through them based off of the chapters, so let's get down with this.

Really, could you see Rainbow Dash doing anything other then offering to let Scootaloo stay with her if she found out she was an orphan? I could see it happening.

About Twilight's cousin comment, yes I did mean Spike, I decided to make him a bit AU and have him be her cousin instead of her pet, I don't think a pet dragon would fit in to well to the AU storyline I have going here.

Of course, the short and tall pink haired girls were Fluttershy (Flutter is just a nickname) and Pinkie Pie (Mina, based off the end of her first name Pinka**mina**), and yes they were siblings, I think that it makes sense considering their similar hair color.

Rain's name is basically me deciding what part of her name I thought sounded strongest as a single name, and I figured Rain is better than Dash, since Rain is actually a thing, and Dashing is what you do when you run.

If you were given the option, would you choose your loyalty over reaching your lifelong dream? I personally think that it would be a really hard choice to make, but luckily for me I don't really have any lifelong dreams right now.

How sad is that…

I like the idea of Big Mac, he's such a chill guy, it's kind of funny, nuff said.

And yeah, I may have been pushing on the big moral choice thing a bit thick, but I don't think that I hammed it up too much, right?

Right?

Most of the names for people I used were off the top of my head, but really Angel as the real name for Spitfire, I think it fits in a silly twilight zone way.

I had a whole lot of fun writing out this entire story, and I hope that you guys enjoyed it nearly or more than I did writing it, this is the first short story that I have ever actually been able to keep short, without it expanding into a massive story.

And yes, there may be more entries into this universe at some point; I like to keep my options open, so eventually this might be used again, maybe a sequel someday, maybe something else.

I'm not sure yet, you'll just have to wait and see.

As always, leave a review if you have a question that I didn't answer above, or if you have some critiquing to do, or if you just wanna say hi (thought that is what private messages are for, I don't have anonymous private messages blocked, or anonymous reviews, just so anyone can leave a review that wants to.

Of course, thank you everyone who has left a review for this story already, I really appreciate your opinions, and I hope that this has been a good story to read.

Though this is not an invitation to send in flames or stupid messages, as usual, if you don't have anything nice to say, I hope you enjoyed the story, now go away.

Anyways, until my next project makes it onto the site this is bye for now everyone, see you all later.


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